Editorial: It’s time to save endangered lake

Wednesday, June 28, 2000 | 10:06 a.m.

Walker Lake in Northern Nevada is in danger because, quite simply, it is not getting enough water. As the Reno Gazette-Journal noted Monday, droughts and upstream diversions for agricultural uses have taken their toll, leaving the lake 130 feet below what it was during the early 1900s. Unless corrective steps are taken soon, the Mineral County lake's ecosystem is in jeopardy, including the possibility that it may lose the Lahontan cutthroat trout fishery.

Mineral County and the Walker Lake Working Group are asking the Nevada Supreme Court to intervene in the issue because they believe current federal-state efforts will fall short. The litigation may not be successful, but it is hoped that it at least spurs government agencies to move quickly to find ways to get more water there before it's too late. It doesn't command the same attention as storied Lake Tahoe, but to sportsmen and other Nevadans, Walker Lake still is a treasure that should be preserved.

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